Hymn to Viśvedevāḥ
Rigveda I.125 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Viśvedevāḥ, the assembled gods and divine powers, invoked alongside praise of a generous patron. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
O Svanaya, lord of lands! Thou art mighty in thy dominion. Thy herds are countless as the stars. Thy fields stretch forth to the horizon. Thy treasuries are filled with gold and silver. Yet greater still is thy heart, for thou art the giver, the one who openeth his hand to the poor.
What wealth is there in hoarding? What glory in the miser's grasp? Thou hast understood the truth that the wise have always known: that the gift made freely is the greatest treasure. The man who giveth achieveth immortality. His name shall be remembered when kingdoms have fallen to dust.
See how the wealth floweth from thy house like the waters of the monsoon! The travelers arrive dusty and parched, and thou givest them drink. The hungry come to thy door, and thou fillest their bellies with good food. The naked are clothed. The sick are healed. All who come to thee depart in blessing.
The gods themselves do note thy generosity. They gather in the heavens and do praise thy name. Indra doth smile upon thee. The Aśvins do guard thy herds. Agni doth bless thy sacrifices. For there is nothing the divine ones love more than a man who giveth freely and loveth his fellow men.
O Svanaya, may thy prosperity endure forever! May thy name be remembered in songs of praise! May thy children's children inherit thy generous heart. In this world and the next, thy deeds shall be rewarded. The wise shall speak of thee. The poor shall call down blessings upon thy house.
Colophon
Rigveda I.125 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, the version that has been transmitted and is considered canonical in the mainstream tradition. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE; this hymn addresses Viśvedevāḥ, the assembled gods and divine powers, invoked alongside praise of a generous patron. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation session to be documented during Kshatriya Blood Rule audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.125
prātā ratnam prātaritvā dadhāti taṁ cikitvān pratigṛhyā ni dhatte |
tena prajāṁ vardhayamāna āyū rāyas poṣeṇa sacate suvīraḥ || 1 ||
sugur asat suhiraṇyaḥ svaśvo bṛhad asmai vaya indro dadhāti |
yas tvāyantaṁ vasunā prātaritvo mukṣījayeva padim utsināti || 2 ||
āyam adya sukṛtam prātar icchann iṣṭeḥ putraṁ vasumatā rathena |
aṁśoḥ sutam pāyaya matsarasya kṣayadvīraṁ vardhaya sūnṛtābhiḥ || 3 ||
upa kṣaranti sindhavo mayobhuva ījānaṁ ca yakṣyamāṇaṁ ca dhenavaḥ |
pṛṇantaṁ ca papuriṁ ca śravasyavo ghṛtasya dhārā upa yanti viśvataḥ || 4 ||
nākasya pṛṣṭhe adhi tiṣṭhati śrito yaḥ pṛṇāti sa ha deveṣu gacchati |
tasmā āpo ghṛtam arṣanti sindhavas tasmā iyaṁ dakṣiṇā pinvate sadā || 5 ||
dakṣiṇāvatām id imāni citrā dakṣiṇāvatāṁ divi sūryāsaḥ |
dakṣiṇāvanto amṛtam bhajante dakṣiṇāvantaḥ pra tiranta āyuḥ || 6 ||
mā pṛṇanto duritam ena āran mā jāriṣuḥ sūrayaḥ suvratāsaḥ |
anyas teṣām paridhir astu kaś cid apṛṇantam abhi saṁ yantu śokāḥ || 7 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
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